The History of the Great and Mighty Kingdom of China and the Situation Thereof, Volume 1 (of 2)

So after this charge being committed vnto me, and his maiestie readie to depart on his voiage for Portugal as aforesaid, he did remit my dispatch vnto the lords of the royall counsell, who were at that time the Licenciado Gasca de Salaçar, and Doctor Gomez de Santisteuan, the Licenciado Espadero, the Licenciado Don Diego de Zuniga, the Doctor Vaillo, the Licenciado Eua, the Licenciado Gedeon de Hinonsosa. By whose commandement I depart from the court vnto Syuell, where as order was giuen that all such things should be prouided that I should carrie vnto the king. Whereas I was procuring the same certaine dayes, and for that they were many the which I should carrie, it was not possible by any meanes that they should be made readie against the departure of the fleete. Then the Licenciado Gasca de Salacar aforesaide, who was at that present resident in the contractation house of Syuel, gaue his maiestie to vnderstand thereof, who was at Badaioz occupied in matters touching the kingdome of Portugal as aforesaid, and requested him to giue order what his pleasure was to be done therein: who commanded that the fleete should depart, and that I should stay till such time as all things were made and concluded that I shoulde carrie with me for the king of China, as in ample manner as hee had commanded. And when that all things were in good order, that they should cause a shippe or galoon to bee made readie, wherein I should made my voyage, for to ouertake or meete at the Newe Spaine such shippes as euerie yeare dooth depart for the Ilands Philippinas, which is at Christmas time: this commandement was delayed vntill the beginning of Lent, as well for that the thinges were manie that shoulde bee made, and coulde not be dispatched in the time, as also for a generall sicknesse that was amongst them in Spaine, called the cattarre or murre. Then after that all thinges were in order, by the commandement of the Licenciado Gasca, hee deliuered vnto me the kinges letter, and all other thinges. The which, for that they were manie, and againe I haue beene tedious in this chapter, I doo not declare it; for that the prudent lector may of himselfe conceiue, if hee doo weigh the magnanimitie of the Catholike king that dooth sende them, and the mightinesse and richnesse of him to whome it is sent, of the which we haue declared enough in this small historie. I would I could particularly declare it vnto you, as also the copie of the letter that his maiestie did send vnto that Heathen or Gentile king, a thing worthie of the author: but for that it came not to effect, neither had I anye licence of him that all onelye might grant it: and againe, in place whereas I could not aske it, therefore I dare not, for that I will not excede the limits of fidelitie which I owe vnto my prince. But it is sufficient that the letter and the present sent by his maiestie vnto the king of that countrey was to no other intent, but to procure him and all his subiects to acknowledge the true God, and to exhort them to receiue our Catholike faith, and to giue them to vnderstand the error wherein they are, and how ignorant they are of the knowledge of the true God, the creator of heauen and earth, and of all the creatures of the world visible and invisible, Sauiour and redeemer of all such as with a true knowledge doo beleeue in him and obey his holy lawe, declared by his worde, and confirmed by his deuine tokens, and other thinges in effect.

So being dispatched, I prosecuted my iourny, and order, till I came vnto the kingdome of Mexico, whereas I found a certaine inconuenience touching a matter needful in that voiage, whereof his maiestie, in the commission he gaue me, willed me to be well aduertised, and, if it were needfull, to giue him notice thereof before I did passe any farther.

The vizroy of that kingdome, who was the Earle of Couma,133 thought it good that I shoulde returne vnto Lysborne, whereas the king was at that instant, and to giue him to vnderstand of the difficultie that was found, in a meeting that the vizroy had caused to bee made of the most grauest personages of all that kingdome, about the prosecuting of that ambassage.

With this resolution, I departed from that kingdome, and returned to Spaine, and left the present in Mexico, in the power of the kings officers, till such time as order was giuen what should be done therewith.

I found his maiestie in Lisborne, whereas I did deliuer him the letters that were written touching the same matter, and did declare vnto him my iudgement touching the meeting aforesaid: who incontinent did take the charge vpon him to seeke occasion, for to put in effect his most Christian intent and zeale; the which I doo beleeue he had procured, and will by al waies possible: and that very shortly we shall see in that kingdome planted the Catholike faith, and their false idolatrie banished. And I hope in God it will bee very shortly, for that there be within that kingdome religious men, of the order of Saint Augustine, and barefoote friers of Saint Francis, and of the order of Jesus, or Jesuits, who are called there the fathers of Saint Paule: of whom there is placed fiue or sixe in the citie of Xanquin, whereas the vizroy doth dwell, and hath erected a couent in that citie ever since the year 1583, with a church, whereas they doo say masse ordinarily. And it is said, of a truth, that they haue got license of the saide vizroy for to passe freely thorough out all the whole kingdome of China. But if it bee so, you must thinke that hee did it after that he had consulted with the king, and doone by his authoritie: otherwise I am perswaded he durst not grant any such license.

At this present dooth there go out of Spaine, by the order and commandement of his maiestie and his royall counsell of the Indies, a companie of religious men, of the order of Saint Dominicke, for to aid and helpe the rest that are there to conclude this enterprise, from whom can proceed nothing but that which tends to great effect, by reason of their great zeale and learning, and the better if that they doo ioyne together in charitie as seruants to one Lord and master, and as they which are bounde to doo all one worke. By which meanes, with the fauour and helpe of Almightie God, putting to their diligence and industrie, they shall easily conquest their hearts and good willes, and shall frustrate the diuell from the possession that so long time he hath possessed in that kingdome, and reduce them to their true Lord by creation and redemption. It will not bee a small helpe, the manie and evident tokens which the Chinos doo giue of desire of their saluation; for as it is said that they haue read in their bookes, that from the occident shall come the true and perfite law to direct them to heaven, where they shalbe angels. And they, seeing that those religious people which are come into their kingdome, doo come from the occident, they are perswaded, without doubt, that the law that they doo declare vnto them is the truth; by which meanes shall redowne vnto them great goodnesse. They are greatly affectioned vnto the commandements of the Catholike faith, and vnto the catechisme, which is translated into their language, and is abrode in manie parts of that kingdome, which is the occasion (as the fathers of the companie that are in the citie Xuquien dooth write) that many principal persons are conuerted vnto the Catholike faith, and others, being holpen by the heauens, and encited by the ensample of them, doo demande the holy baptisme, which is left undone because they will not cause any vprore in the countrie. And againe, when they shall better conceiue thereof, they may receiue it with more firme faith.

God, for his mercie, cause to go forwards, and with his diuine fauour, this good worke, for his honour and glorie, and exalting his holy faith; and that so great and infinite a number of soules, redeemed by his pretious blood, might be saued, and to put in the hart of Christian kings to proceed forwards in that which he hath begun: putting alwaies in their breasts a greater augmentation, to the concluding of the same, and to put apart from him all such perswasions as shoulde cause him to leaue it off, which the diuell will procure by all the wayes and meanes that he may. But against God and his diuine will there is neither power nor wisedome.

THE END OF THE FIRST PART

1

Purchas's Pilgrimes, vol. iii, p. 35, 36.

2

Purchas's Pilgrimes, vol. iii, p. 5.

3

Barros, dec. III, liv. ii, cap. 6.

4

… Mui prospero em honra, e fazenda, cousas que poucas vezes juntamente se conseguem, porque ha poucos homens que por sus trabalhos as merecem pelo modo que Fernão Peres naquellas partes as ganhava. Barros, dec. III, liv. ii, cap. 8. Goes, p. iv, cap. 24. Osorius, lib. xi, p. 317 et seq.

5

Barros, dec. III, liv. vi, cap. 2, has further particulars concerning his regulations. Concerning his person and manners the same author says: "Como era cavalleiro de sua pessoa, muy pomposo, glorioso e gastador, todos suas obras eram com grande magestade, etc." In Osorius (lib. xi, p. 319 b) he appears more faulty and blameworthy. "… Andradii, viri sane fortis sed temerarii, et plurimum a mente fratris abhorrentis … deinde in tyrannidem erupit: rapuit quæ voluit, intulit vim ingenuis virginibus, quibus voluit: multa præterea signa insiti furoris dedit."

6

For the elaboration of the route of the friars, rendered difficult of solution by the changes in the form of names, the writer is indebted to the kind assistance of his learned friend Dr. Neumann, professor of Chinese in the University of Munich.

7

Martin de Rada, otherwise called Herrada, for an account of whom and his companions, see Introduction.

8

Manilla.

9

Cochinchina.

10

Hainan.

11

Birman Empire.

12

Bernier, in his Lettre à Colbert sur l'étendue de l'Hindoustan, describes the Patans as "peuples mahometans, sortis du costé du Gange vers Bengale, qui avant l'invasion des Mogols dans les Indes avoient sceu se rendre puissans dans plusieurs endroits, et principalement à Dehly et faire plusieurs Rajas des environs leurs tributaires. Ces Patans … haïssent mortellement les Mogols, souvenans toujours de ce qu'ils ont été autrefois, avant qu'ils les eussent chassez de leurs grandes principautez et les eussent obligez de se retirer deça delà, loin de Dehly et Agra dans des montagnes où ils se sont habituez."

13

Moguls.

14

Capital.

15

Samarcand.

16

Loo Choos.

17

Cleanness.

18

Germans.

19

See note, page 7.

20

Dimocarpus leechee.

21

From fanega, Span. A measure for grain, varying in capacity in different parts of Spain and Portugal. It contains on an average one and three-fifths of an English bushel.

22

Panic-grass.

23

Martas zibellinas-sables.

24

The Spanish Cuarto equals four maravedis, and is of about the same value as a French sou, or something less than an English halfpenny.

25

Misspelt for Cansi. Probably Sin-gan-fu, capital of the province of Chen-sy is here referred to.

26

Misspelt for Taybinco, meaning Ta-Bing-kwo, the kingdom under the great Bing (Ming) dynasty.

27

Query li.

28

Misspelt for Malacca. This sentence shows Olam to be Yun-nan.

29

After a careful collation of the following illspelt and vague enumeration of the provinces of China with those given by Semedo, Heningius, Heylyn, and in a very early map of the country, as well as with some elucidatory passages in the text, the following explanations are offered as to their respective significations. The Paguia here mentioned is evidently Pe-che-lie.

30

Fo-kien.

31

Yun-nan, see note page 21.

32

Quang-see.

33

Chen-sy.

34

Chan-si.

35

Kiang-see.

36

Hou-quang.

37

This name which is spelt in the same manner as that given in the second volume to the city of Fo-cheu, would seem to mean the province of Kiang-nan, as that province is not otherwise represented in the list.

38

Ho-nan.

39

Chan-tung.

40

Koei-tcheou.

41

Che-kiang.

42

Se-tchuen.

43

Evidently Canton, by comparison with the list in next chapter.

Quinsay or King-sze, means "the capital."

44

Peking.

45

Quinsay or King-sze, means "the capital."

46

Tay-ping-fu.

47

One of the five ports opened to England by the treaty of Nanking in 1842.

48

Ho-chow, in the province of Shen-si.

49

The Tartar province of Leao-tung, in which the wall commences, has also the name of Quantonz: see Gutzlaff's Map of China and Biot's Dictionnaire des noms anciens et modernes des Villes, etc., dans l'Empire Chinois, fo. 86. From this it is evident that our author is now considering the work in its course from east to west, and not from west to east, as in the commencement of this paragraph.

50

This is evidently Se-tchuen, as given in p. 22; for although it is not strictly correct to say that the great wall terminates in Se-tchuen, yet that province borders on the ancient province of Shen-si sufficiently near to justify the conclusion that it is here referred to, the whole of the geographical information gained by the writers at this early period being necessarily but vague and indefinite.

51

Sic, hot.

52

Germans.

53

A mis-print for Barbosa. Duarte Barbosa, or Barbessa, a native of Lisbon, wrote in Portuguese an account of his travels in the south of Asia; but according to Antonio, they have only appeared in type in an Italian translation. An abridgement of his narrative is given in Ramusio, tom. i, p. 288. Subsequently Barbosa accompanied Magellan in his voyage round the world, and shared the melancholy fate of that great navigator in the Island of Zebu in 1521.

54

Mexico.

55

Saxii.This has been supposed to mean the province of Canton, the names of the other provinces having been pretty well identified. The writer may have considered that the finest porcelain was made at Canton, as it was usually exported from thence to Europe; but the chief seat of the manufacture is, in fact, the province of Kiang-see.

56

Chincheou. One of the chief districts of Fokien, often named for the entire province.

57

This and the following details of the striking similarity which exists between the ceremonial of the Buddhist and Roman Catholic religions, are verified by later travellers and resident missionaries, but there is no evidence from history to show that the former derived these peculiarities from the latter.

58

The work here referred to was printed in black letter at Evora, 1569, 4to., under the title, "Tractado em que se contam muito por estenso as cousas da China, con suas particularidades, y assi do regno dormuz."

59

Laocon Izautey. The following particulars evidently relate, not to the Confucian or national religion of the Chinese, but to the sect of the Tao-sse. Grosier tells us, that "the sect of the Tao-see was founded by a philosopher named Lao-kiun or Lao-Tse, who came into the world in the year 603 before the Christian era." Grosier's China, vol. ii, p. 203. It is impossible to identify all the names given in this legend of Chinese superstition. Paosaos (see next page) is probably the same with Poosah, the name generally given to the Chinese idols. The Sichia, who are said to have come from Trautheyco, towards the west [Thibet? see note next page], are probably the disciples of the sect of Foe, also noticed by Grosier. "This sect, still more pernicious and much wider diffused throughout China than the preceding, came originally from India." – Vol. ii, p. 215. The description here given of the religious people who live without marrying and wear no hair, tallies exactly with the practice of the Bonzes or priests of Foe of the present day.

This would seem to be Kwan-she, the same as Kwan-yin, the goddess of mercy of the votaries of Foe.

60

This would appear to be Thibet (for there is no Chinese form that we can recognize as corresponding with the word), and Thibet is the country from which those points of belief are derived.

61

This superstitious practice is described in much the same terms by Grosier. "The commonest way is to burn perfumes before an idol, and to beat the earth several times with the forehead. Upon the altar which supports this idol, there is always a kind of horn, filled with small flat sticks, upon which are traced a variety of unintelligible characters. Each of these small sticks conceals an answer. The person who consults, lets fall, at random, one of these small sticks, the inscription of which is explained by the Bonze who accompanies him. When no Bonze is present, they have recourse to a paper fixed up to the wall of the pagoda, to discover the enigmatical meaning of the word. This manner of consulting is very common in China." – Grosier, vol. ii, p. 235.

62

Pwan-koo, the Adam of the Chinese.

63

Better known as Teen-Hwang.

64

Also called Te Hwang.

65

Also named Laoutsze.

66

Also named Fuh-he-te.

67

Also named Shin Nung.

68

The Chinese pray to the dead, but the practice of prayers for the dead and the doctrine of the creation of man out of nothing by Tien, alluded to at page 50, are not found in other writers; if therefore our author is correct, these may possibly have been relics of early Christian teaching.

69

This expression is introduced by the English translator.

70

Severely.

71

This is the well-known lignum aloes of commerce. In some remarks by the late H. T. Colebrooke, Esq., on a paper of the late Dr. Roxburgh's recently read at the Linnean Society, occurs the following observation: "The Portuguese pao de aguila is an undoubted corruption, either of the Arabic aghaluji, or of the Latin agallochum; and it is by a ludicrous mistake that from this corruption has grown the name of lignum aquilæ, whence the genus of the plant now receives its botanic appellation, aquilaria agallocha." Roxb.

72

It is thus spelt also in Steven's Spanish Dictionary. Query, cayolizan, a Mexican shrub, giving a perfume like incense.

73

Rough.

74

A mill. Wickliffe's translation of the Bible: Matthew xxiv, has: Two wymmen schulen be gryndynge in oo querne; oon schal be taken and the tother left.

75

This sketch of the early annals of China is not altogether correct; but agrees in the main with that given by Du Halde. The names of the sovereigns are strangely misspelt; but the order of succession, and the years of their respective reigns, render it not difficult to identify them. Vitey does not seem to be the commonly reputed founder of the Chinese monarchy Fo-hi, but either his great successor Hoang-tie, who had 25 sons, or the celebrated Emperor Yao, whose reign lasted 100 years, and commenced b. c. 2357. Tzintzon is evidently the Chi-Hoang-ty of Du Halde, who built the great wall, and reigned b. c. 237. Aguisi, his son, is named by Du Halde Cul-chi. The Anchosan of our author is clearly the first emperor of the dynasty of Han, named Han-Cao-tsou by Du Halde. The years of the reigns which follow correspond very exactly with those of the several emperors of the Han dynasty; but the names are all spelt differently.

76

Spanish. Vara-A yard.

77

A third.

78

Position, from Span. Estado.

79

For the names of the following provinces, see note, p. 22.

80

More properly "Mace". "The only coin in general use throughout China is the le or cash. Its intrinsic value may be about one-twelfth part of an English penny. The nominal names are those called fun, tsien, and leang, denominated by foreigners candareen, mace, and tael, bearing respectively to each other a decimal proportion." – Murray's China, vol. iii, p. 93.

The mace is usually estimated at about 8d., and the tael 6s. 10d. sterling.

81

Span. Quilates-carats.

82

More properly "tael".

83

Spanish. Millo or mijo-millet.

84

Spanish. Panizo-panic-grass.

85

This word is spelt the same in the original. Query blankets, from Portuguese Chim-Chinese, and mantas-blankets.

86

Prevent.

87

The military and non-military in China are usually distinguished by the terms ping and ming. The pon seems to refer to the ping or regular troops, and the cum to the ming or people; being only a species of local militia.

88

Falchions?

89

Billhooks?

90

Bombs.

91

Loo chooans.

92

Mis-spelt for Narsinga.

93

Mis-spelt for Bengala.

94

Query, Java.

95

Pekin.

96

Tsong-tuh.

97

Laoye. See Chap. xiv on the title of Loytia.

98

Possibly this word is confounded with Colao or Chung-tang, a minister of state.

99

More properly To't'ung.

100

More properly Po-ching-sz, or, as Du Halde has it, Pou-ching-ssee.

101

More properly Too-tuh, adjutant-general.

102

More properly Ngan-tcha-see.

103

More properly Hai-tao. Respecting these offices see Du Halde, vol. ii, fol. 32, 33.

104

Standard-bearer.

105

More properly Paou-yin.

106

This and the preceding title seem to be the same as those similarly spelt on page 103.

107

Perhaps the Koo-ta-sze, or treasurer.

108

Perhaps the Che-tsze, or secretary.

109

Taou, tae, the intendant of circuits.

110

More properly Kwan-paou, commissioner of customs. See Morrison's View of China, p. 94.

111

Perhaps Te-paou, a police runner.

112

More properly Yuen-chae, a police constable.